Pioneering researcher to leave Motorola

May 30, 2003 — Herb Goronkin, an industrial researcher at Motorola Labs who spearheaded several corporate programs to miniaturize electronics, will leave his position as vice president and director on June 6 to begin a career as an independent science and technology adviser. He said he decided to leave Motorola after 25 years because cuts to the research and development labs in Tempe, Ariz., limited his ability to grow and be productive.

null

Goronkin’s work with compound semiconductor materials helped Motorola miniaturize its mobile phones and develop high-speed transistors. He was critical in the development of Motorola’s efforts to commercialize magnetic memory, or MRAM. Motorola plans to offer MRAM chips for sampling this year and begin production in 2004. A physicist, he received Motorola’s highest award for a technologist, a Dan Noble fellowship, in 1995 as well as its most distinguished innovator and master innovator awards in the 1990s.

null

Motorola has reduced its staff by more than 50,000 — or about a third of its 2000 work force — and cut its research and development expenditures by $500 million in 2002. Since it began cutbacks in 2001, it has shuttered its flat panel display program but kept a related carbon nanotube group, sold a biochip business and donated related biotech equipment to Arizona State University. After the corporation’s latest downsizing, Goronkin was left overseeing three labs and a nanotechnology program.

null

Goronkin said he is accepting a retirement package from Motorola but will not retire. Instead, he will use his technical and business expertise to counsel businesses and serve on company boards.

FEATURED PRODUCTS

TECHNOLOGY PAPERS

Keysight Technologies’ popular 276-page Parametric Measurement Handbook is an invaluable reference tool for anyone performing device or process characterization. It is filled with tips to help both novice and advanced users, and the latest edition (Rev 4) includes an entirely new section devoted to power device test.February 27, 2019Sponsored by Keysight Technologies

Traditional root cause analysis in manufacturing uses summary data, which is ineffective in the face of complex issues stemming from subtle defects in a process. Full trace analytics, backed by powerful Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) algorithms, uses the entirety of all the sensor and tool data available in a production line for analysis, enabling fabrication engineers to quickly and accurately focus on the causes of issues that negatively affect yield, large and small.February 07, 2019Sponsored by BISTel

WEBCASTS

The semiconductor industry is an acknowledged global leader in promoting environmental sustainability in the design, manufacture, and use of its products, as well as the health and safety of its operations and impacts on workers in semiconductor facilities (fabs). We will examine trends and concerns related to emissions, chemical use, energy consumption and worker safety and health.

Extension Media websites place cookies on your device to give you the best user experience. By using our websites, you agree to placement of these cookies and to our Privacy Policy. Please click here to accept.